[PDF] Genetics and molecular biology / by Robert Schleif

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Genetics and Molecular Biology

Genetics and

Molecular Biology

S E C O N D E D I T I O N

Robert Schleif

Department of Biology

The Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, Maryland

The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore and London =1986 by Addison-Wesley Publishing Company =1993 by Robert Schleif

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

The Johns Hopkins University Press

2715 North Charles Street

Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4319

The Johns Hopkins Press Ltd., London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Schleif, Robert F.

Genetics and molecular biology / by Robert Schleif. - 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8018-4673-0 (acid-free paper). - ISBN 0-8018-4674-9 (pbk : acid-free paper) 1. Molecular genetics. I. Title

QH442.S34 1993

The catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.

Preface

This book evolved from a course in molecular biology which I have been teaching primarily to graduate students for the past twenty years. Because the subject is now mature, it is possible to present the material by covering the principles and encouraging students to learn how to apply them. Such an approach is particularly efficient as the subject of molecular genetics now is far too advanced, large, and complex for much value to come from attempting to cover the material in an encyclopedia-like fashion or teaching the definitions of the relevant words in a dictionary-like approach. Only the core of molecular genetics can be covered by the present approach. Most of the remainder of the vast subject however, is a logical extension of the ideas and principles presented here. One consequence of the principles and analysis ap- proach taken here is that the material is not easy. Thinking and learning to reason from the fundamentals require serious effort, but ultimately, are more efficient and more rewarding than mere memorization. An auxiliary objective of this presentation is to help students develop an appreciation for elegant and beautiful experiments. A substantial number of such experiments are explained in the text, and the cited papers contain many more. The book contains three types of information. The main part of each chapter is the text. Following each chapter are references and problems. References are arranged by topic, and one topic is "Suggested Read- ings". The additional references cited permit a student or researcher to find many of the fundamental papers on a topic. Some of these are on topics not directly covered in the text. Because solving problems helps focus one's attention and stimulates understanding, many thought-pro- voking problems or paradoxes are provided. Some of these require use of material in addition to the text. Solutions are provided to about half of the problems. v Although the ideal preparation for taking the course and using the book would be the completion of preliminary courses in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, and physical chemistry, few students have such a background. Most commonly, only one or two of the above-mentioned courses have been taken, with some students coming from a more physical or chemical background, and other students coming from a more biological background. My course consists of two lectures and one discussion session per week, with most chapters being covered in one lecture. The lectures often summarize material of a chapter and then discuss in depth a recent paper that extends the material of the chapter. Additional read- ings of original research papers are an important part of the course for graduate students, and typically such two papers are assigned per lecture. Normally, two problems from the ends of the chapters are assigned per lecture. Many of the ideas presented in the book have been sharpened by my frequent discussions with Pieter Wensink, and I thank him for this. I thank my editors, James Funston for guidance on the first edition and Yale Altman and Richard O'Grady for ensuring the viability of the second edition. I also thank members of my laboratory and the following who read and commented on portions of the manuscript: Karen Beemon, Howard Berg, Don Brown, Victor Corces, Jeff Corden, David Draper, Mike Edidin, Bert Ely, Richard Gourse, Ed Hedgecock, Roger Hendrix, Jay Hirsh, Andy Hoyt, Amar Klar, Ed Lattman, Roger

McMacken, Howard Nash, and Peter Privalov.

vi Preface

Contents

1 An Overview of Cell Structure and Function 1

Cell's Need for Immense Amounts of Information 2

Rudiments of Prokaryotic Cell Structure 2

Rudiments of Eukaryotic Cell Structure 5

Packing DNA into Cells 7

Moving Molecules into or out of Cells 8

Diffusion within the Small Volume of a Cell 13

Exponentially Growing Populations 14

Composition Change in Growing Cells 15

Age Distribution in Populations of Growing Cells 15

Problems 16

References 18

2 Nucleic Acid and Chromosome Structure 21

The Regular Backbone Of DNA 22

Grooves in DNA and Helical Forms of DNA 23

Dissociation and Reassociation of Base-paired Strands 26

Reading Sequence Without Dissociating Strands 27

Electrophoretic Fragment Separation 28

Bent DNA Sequences 29

Measurement of Helical Pitch 31

Topological Considerations in DNA Structure 32

Generating DNA with Superhelical Turns 33

Measuring Superhelical Turns 34

Determining Lk, Tw, and Wr in Hypothetical Structures 36

Altering Linking Number 37

Biological Significance of Superhelical Turns 39

vii

The Linking Number Paradox of Nucleosomes 40

General Chromosome Structure 41

Southern Transfers to Locate Nucleosomes on Genes 41

ARS Elements, Centromeres, and Telomeres 43

Problems 44

References 47

3 DNA Synthesis 53

A. Enzymology 54

Proofreading, Okazaki Fragments, and DNA Ligase 54 Detection and Basic Properties of DNA Polymerases 57

In vitro DNA Replication 60

Error and Damage Correction 62

B. Physiological Aspects 66

DNA Replication Areas In Chromosomes 66

Bidirectional Replication from E. coli Origins 67

The DNA Elongation Rate 69

Constancy of the E. coli DNA Elongation Rate 71

Regulating Initiations 72

Gel Electrophoresis Assay of Eukaryotic Replication Origins 74

How Fast Could DNA Be Replicated? 76

Problems 78

References 79

4 RNA Polymerase and RNA Initiation 85

Measuring the Activity of RNA Polymerase 86

Concentration of Free RNA Polymerase in Cells 89

The RNA Polymerase in Escherichia coli90

Three RNA Polymerases in Eukaryotic Cells 91

Multiple but Related Subunits in Polymerases 92

Multiple Sigma Subunits 95

The Structure of Promoters 96

Enhancers 99

Enhancer-Binding Proteins 100

DNA Looping in Regulating Promoter Activities 102

Steps of the Initiation Process 104

Measurement of Binding and Initiation Rates 105

Relating Abortive Initiations to Binding and Initiating 107

Roles of Auxiliary Transcription Factors 109

Melted DNA Under RNA Polymerase 110

Problems 111

References 113

5 Transcription, Termination, and RNA Processing 119

Polymerase Elongation Rate 119

viii Contents

Transcription Termination at Specific Sites 121

Termination 122

Processing Prokaryotic RNAs After Synthesis 125

S1 Mapping to Locate 5' and 3' Ends of Transcripts 126 Caps, Splices, Edits, and Poly-A Tails on Eukaryotic RNAs 127

The Discovery and Assay of RNA Splicing 128

Involvement of the U1 snRNP Particle in Splicing 131

Splicing Reactions and Complexes 134

The Discovery of Self-Splicing RNAs 135

A Common Mechanism for Splicing Reactions 137

Other RNA Processing Reactions 139

Problems 140

References 142

6 Protein Structure 149

The Amino Acids 150

The Peptide Bond 153

Electrostatic Forces that Determine Protein Structure 154

Hydrogen Bonds and the Chelate Effect 158

Hydrophobic Forces 159

Thermodynamic Considerations of Protein Structure 161

Structures within Proteins 162

The Alpha Helix, Beta Sheet, and Beta Turn 164

Calculation of Protein Tertiary Structure 166

Secondary Structure Predictions 168

Structures of DNA-Binding Proteins 170

Salt Effects on Protein-DNA Interactions 173

Locating Specific Residue-Base Interactions 174

Problems 175

References 177

7 Protein Synthesis 183

A. Chemical Aspects 184

Activation of Amino Acids During Protein Synthesis 184

Fidelity of Aminoacylation 185

How Synthetases Identify the Correct tRNA Molecule 187

Decoding the Message 188

Base Pairing between Ribosomal RNA and Messenger 191 Experimental Support for the Shine-Dalgarno Hypothesis 192

Eukaryotic Translation and the First AUG 194

Tricking the Translation Machinery into Initiating 195

Protein Elongation 197

Peptide Bond Formation 198

Translocation 198

Termination, Nonsense, and Suppression 199

Chaperones and Catalyzed Protein Folding 202

Contents ix

Resolution of a Paradox 202

B. Physiological Aspects 203

Messenger Instability 203

Protein Elongation Rates 204

Directing Proteins to Specific Cellular Sites 207

Verifying the Signal Peptide Model 208

The Signal Recognition Particle and Translocation 210

Expectations for Ribosome Regulation 211

Proportionality of Ribosome Levels and Growth Rates 212

Regulation of Ribosome Synthesis 214

Balancing Synthesis of Ribosomal Components 216

Problems 218

References 220

8 Genetics 227

Mutations 227

Point Mutations, Deletions, Insertions, and Damage 228

Classical Genetics of Chromosomes 231

Complementation, Cis, Trans, Dominant, and Recessive 233 Mechanism of a trans Dominant Negative Mutation 234

Genetic Recombination 235

Mapping by Recombination Frequencies 236

Mapping by Deletions 239

Heteroduplexes and Genetic Recombination 239

Branch Migration and Isomerization 241

Elements of Recombination in E. coli, RecA, RecBCD, and Chi 243

Genetic Systems 244

Growing Cells for Genetics Experiments 245

Testing Purified Cultures, Scoring 246

Isolating Auxotrophs, Use of Mutagens and Replica Plating 247

Genetic Selections 248

Mapping with Generalized Transducing Phage 250

Principles of Bacterial Sex 251

Elements of Yeast Genetics 253

Elements of Drosophila Genetics 254

Isolating Mutations in Muscle or Nerve in Drosophila 255 Fate Mapping and Study of Tissue-Specific Gene Expression 256

Problems 257

References 261

9 Genetic Engineering and Recombinant DNA 265

The Isolation of DNA 266

The Biology of Restriction Enzymes 268

Cutting DNA with Restriction Enzymes 271

Isolation of DNA Fragments 272

x Contents

Joining DNA Fragments 272

Vectors: Selection and Autonomous DNA Replication 274

Plasmid Vectors 274

A Phage Vector for Bacteria 278

Vectors for Higher Cells 279

Putting DNA Back into Cells 281

Cloning from RNA 282

Plaque and Colony Hybridization for Clone Identification 283

Walking Along a Chromosome to Clone a Gene 284

Arrest of Translation to Assay for DNA of a Gene 285

Chemical DNA Sequencing 286

Enzymatic DNA Sequencing 289

Problems 291

References 293

10 Advanced Genetic Engineering 297

Finding Clones from a Known Amino Acid Sequence 297 Finding Clones Using Antibodies Against a Protein 298

Southern, Northern, and Western Transfers 300

Polymerase Chain Reaction 302

Isolation of Rare Sequences Utilizing PCR 305

Physical and Genetic Maps of Chromosomes 306

Chromosome Mapping 307

DNA Fingerprinting - Forensics 310

Megabase Sequencing 311

Footprinting, Premodification and Missing Contact Probing 313

Antisense RNA: Selective Gene Inactivation 317

Hypersynthesis of Proteins 317

Altering Cloned DNA by in vitro Mutagenesis 318

Mutagenesis with Chemically Synthesized DNA 321

Problems 323

References 325

11 Repression and the lac Operon 331

Background of the lac Operon 332

The Role of Inducer Analogs in the Study of the lac Operon 334

Proving lac Repressor is a Protein 335

An Assay for lac Repressor 336

The Difficulty of Detecting Wild-Type lac Repressor 338

Detection and Purification of lac Repressor 340

Repressor Binds to DNA: The Operator is DNA 341

The Migration Retardation Assay and DNA Looping 343

The Isolation and Structure of Operator 344

In vivo Affinity of Repressor for Operator 346

The DNA-binding Domain of lac Repressor 346

A Mechanism for Induction 348

Contents xi

Problems 349

References 353

12 Induction, Repression, and the araBAD Operon 359

The Sugar Arabinose and Arabinose Metabolism 360

Genetics of the Arabinose System 362

Detection and Isolation of AraC Protein 364

Repression by AraC 366

Regulating AraC Synthesis 368

Binding Sites of the ara Regulatory Proteins 369

DNA Looping and Repression of araBAD371

In vivo Footprinting Demonstration of Looping 373

How AraC Protein Loops and Unloops 373

Why Looping is Biologically Sensible 376

Why Positive Regulators are a Good Idea 376

Problems 377

References 379

13 Attenuation and the trp Operon 385

The Aromatic Amino Acid Synthetic Pathway and its Regulation 386 Rapid Induction Capabilities of the trp Operon 388 The Serendipitous Discovery of trp Enzyme Hypersynthesis 390

Early Explorations of the Hypersynthesis 392

trp Multiple Secondary Structures in trp Leader RNA 396

Coupling Translation to Termination 397

RNA Secondary Structure and the Attenuation Mechanism 399 Other Attenuated Systems: Operons, Bacillus subtilis and HIV 400

Problems 402

References 404

14 Lambda Phage Genes and Regulatory Circuitry 409

A. The Structure and Biology of Lambda 410

The Physical Structure of Lambda 410

The Genetic Structure of Lambda 411

Lysogeny and Immunity 413

Lambda's Relatives and Lambda Hybrids 414

B. Chronology of a Lytic Infective Cycle 415

Lambda Adsorption to Cells 415

Early Transcription of Genes N and Cro416

N Protein and Antitermination of Early Gene Transcription 417

The Role of Cro Protein 418

Initiating DNA Synthesis with the O and P Proteins 418

Proteins Kil,
, , and Exo 419

Q Protein and Late Proten Synthesis 420

Lysis 421

xii Contents C. The Lysogenic Infective Cycle and Induction of Lyso-gens 422

Chronology of Becoming a Lysogen 422

Site for Cro Repression and CI Activation 423

Cooperativity in Repressor Binding and its Measurement 426 The Need for and the Realization of Hair-Trigger Induction 427

Induction from the Lysogenic State 429

Entropy, a Basis for Lambda Repressor Inactivation 431

Problems 433

References 435

15 Xenopus 5S RNA Synthesis 443

Biology of 5S RNA Synthesis in Xenopus443

In vitro 5S RNA Synthesis 446

TFIIIA Binding to the Middle of its Gene as Well as to RNA 447

Switching from Oocyte to Somatic 5S Synthesis 450

Structure and Function of TFIIIA 452

Problems 453

References 454

16 Regulation of Mating Type in Yeast 457

The Yeast Cell Cycle 458

Mating Type Conversion in Saccharomyces cerevisiae459

Cloning the Mating Type Loci in Yeast 460

Transfer of Mating Type Gene Copies to an Expression Site 461

Structure of the Mating Type Loci 462

The Expression and Recombination Paradoxes 463

Silencing HML and HMR464

Isolation of 2 Protein 466

2 and MCM1 468 Sterile Mutants, Membrane Receptors and G Factors 469

DNA Cleavage at the MAT Locus 471

DNA Strand Inheritance and Switching in Fission Yeast 472

Problems 474

References 475

17 Genes Regulating Development 479

General Considerations on Signaling 479

Outline of Early Drosophila Development 482

Classical Embryology 484

Using Genetics to Begin Study of Developmental Systems 484

Cloning Developmental Genes 487

Enhancer Traps for Detecting and Cloning Developmental Genes 487

Expression Patterns of Developmental Genes 488

Similarities Among Developmental Genes 491

Overall Model of Drosophila Early Development 491

Contents xiii

Problems 492

References 492

18 Lambda Phage Integration and Excision 497

Mapping Integrated Lambda 498

Simultaneous Deletion of Chromosomal and Lambda DNA 499 DNA Heteroduplexes Prove that Lambda Integrates 501

Gene Order Permutation and the Campbell Model 501

Isolation of Integration-Defective Mutants 503

Isolation of Excision-Deficient Mutants 504

Properties of the int and xis Gene Products 506

Incorrect Excision and gal and bio Transducing Phage 506 Transducing Phage Carrying Genes Other than gal and bio508 Use of Transducing Phage to Study Integration and Excision 509

The Double att Phage, att

2 510

Demonstrating Xis is Unstable 512

Inhibition By a Downstream Element 513

In vitro Assay of Integration and Excision 515

Host Proteins Involved in Integration and Excision 517

Structure of the att Regions 517

Structure of the Intasome 519

Holliday Structures and Branch Migration in Integration 521

Problems 523

References 525

19 Transposable Genetic Elements 531

IS Elements in Bacteria 532

Structure and Properties of IS Elements 534

Discovery of Tn Elements 536

Structure and Properties of Tn Elements 538

Inverting DNA Segments by Recombination, Flagellin Synthesis 540

Mu Phage As a Giant Transposable Element 542

An Invertible Segment of Mu Phage 544

In vitro Transposition, Threading or Global Topology? 545

Hopping by Tn10 547

Retrotransposons in Higher Cells 550

An RNA Transposition Intermediate 552

P Elements and Transformation 553

P Element Hopping by Chromosome Rescue 555

Problems 557

References 558

20 Generating Genetic Diversity: Antibodies 563

The Basic Adaptive Immune Response 563

Telling the Difference Between Foreign and Self 565

The Number of Different Antibodies Produced 566

xiv Contents

Myelomas and Monoclonal Antibodies 567

The Structure of Antibodies 569

Many Copies of V Genes and Only a Few C Genes 571

The J Regions 573

The D Regions in H Chains 575

Induced Mutations and Antibody Diversity 577

Class Switching of Heavy Chains 577

Enhancers and Expression of Immunoglobulin Genes 578

The AIDS Virus 579

Engineering Antibody Synthesis in Bacteria 580

Assaying for Sequence Requirements of Gene Rearrangements 582

Cloning the Recombinase 584

Problems 584

References 586

21 Biological Assembly, Ribosomes and Lambda Phage 591

A. Ribosome Assembly 592

RNAse and Ribosomes 592

The Global Structure of Ribosomes 593

Assembly of Ribosomes 595

Experiments with in vitro Ribosome Assembly 597

Determining Details of Local Ribosomal Structure 599

B. Lambda Phage Assembly 601

General Aspects 601

The Geometry of Capsids 602

The Structure of the Lambda Particle 605

The Head Assembly Sequence and Host Proteins 606

Packaging the DNA and Formation of the cos Ends 607

Formation of the Tail 609

In vitro Packaging 610

Problems 610

References 613

22 Chemotaxis 619

Assaying Chemotaxis 620

Fundamental Properties of Chemotaxis 622

Genetics of Motility and Chemotaxis 624

How Cells Swim 625

The Mechanism of Chemotaxis 627

The Energy for Chemotaxis 629

Adaptation 630

Methylation and Adaptation 632

Phosphorylation and the Rapid Response 633

Problems 635

References 637

Contents xv

23 Oncogenesis, Molecular Aspects 643

Bacterially Induced Tumors in Plants 644

Transformation and Oncogenesis by Damaging the Chromosome 645 Identifying a Nucleotide Change Causing Cancer 647

Retroviruses and Cancer 650

Cellular Counterparts of Retroviral Oncogenes 653

Identification of the src and sis Gene Products 654

DNA Tumor Viruses 656

Recessive Oncogenic Mutations, Tumor Suppressors 658

The ras-fos-jun Pathway 660

Directions for Future Research in Molecular Biology 661

Problems 661

References 663

Hints and Solutions to Odd-Numbered Problems 667

Index 685

xvi Contents

An Overview of Cell

Structure and Function

1 In this book we will be concerned with the basics of the macromolecular interactions that affect cellular processes. The basic tools for such studies are genetics, chemistry, and physics. For the most part, we will be concerned with understanding processes that occur within cells, such as DNA synthesis, protein synthesis, and regulation of gene activity. The initial studies of these processes utilize whole cells. These normally are followed by deeper biochemical and biophysical studies of individual components. Before beginning the main topics we should take time for an overview of cell structure and function. At the same time we should develop our intuitions about the time and distance scales relevant to the molecules and cells we will study. Many of the experiments discussed in this book were done with the bacterium Escherichia coli, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Each of these organisms possesses unique characteristics making it particularly suitable for study. In fact, most of the research in molecular biology has been confined to these three organisms. The earliest and most extensive work has been done with Escherichia coli. The growth of this oranism is rapid and inexpen- sive, and many of the most fundamental problems in biology are displayed by systems utilized by this bacterium. These problems are therefore most efficiently studied there. The eukaryotic organisms are necessary for study of phenomena not observed in bacteria, but parallel studies on other bacteria and higher cells have revealed that the basic principles of cell operation are the same for all cell types. 1

Cell's Need for Immense Amounts of Information

Cells face enormous problems in growing. We can develop some idea of the situation by considering a totally self-sufficient toolmaking shop. If we provide the shop with coal for energy and crude ores, analogous to a cell's nutrient medium, then a very large collection of machines and tools is necessary merely to manufacture each of the parts present in the shop. Still greater complexity would be added if we required that the shop be totally self-regulating and that each machine be self-assem- bling. Cells face and solve these types of problems. In addition, each of the chemical reactions necessary for growth of cells is carried out in an aqueous environment at near neutral pH. These are conditions that would cripple ordinary chemists. By the tool shop analogy, we expect cells to utilize large numbers of "parts," and, also by analogy to factories, we expect each of these parts to be generated by a specialized machine devoted to production of just one type of part. Indeed, biochemists' studies of metabolic pathways have revealed that an E. coli cell contains about 1,000 types of parts, or small molecules, and that each is generated by a specialized machine, an enzyme. The information required to specify the structure of even one machine is immense, a fact made apparent by trying to describe an object without pictures and drawings. Thus, it is reasonable, and indeed it has been found that cells function with truly immense amounts of information. DNA is the cell's library in which information is stored in its sequence of nucleotides. Evolution has built into this library the information necessary for cells' growth and division. Because of the great value of the DNA library, it is natural that it be carefully protected and preserved. Except for some of the simplest viruses, cells keep duplicates of the information by using a pair of self-complementary DNA strands. Each strand contains a complete copy of the information, and chemical or physical damage to one strand is recognized by special enzymes and is repaired by making use of information contained on the opposite strand. More complex cells further preserve their information by pos- sessing duplicate DNA duplexes. Much of the recent activity in molecular biology can be understood in terms of the cell's library. This library contains the information necessary to construct the different cellular machines. Clearly, such a library contains far too much information for the cell to use at any one time. Therefore mechanisms have developed to recognize the need for particular portions, "books," of the information and read this out of the library in the form of usable copies. In cellular terms, this is the regulation of gene activity.

Rudiments of Prokaryotic Cell Structure

A typical prokaryote, E. coli, is a rod capped with hemispheres (Fig. 1.1).

It is 1-3
 (10

-4 cm = 1  = 10 4 Å) long and 0.75  in diameter. Such a

2 An Overview of Cell Structure and Function

cell contains about 2 
10 -13 g of protein, 2  10 -14 g of RNA that is mostly ribosomal RNA, and 6  10 -15 g of DNA. The cell envelope consists of three parts, an inner and outer mem- brane and an intervening peptidoglycan layer (Fig. 1.2). The outer surface of the outer membrane is largely lipopolysaccharides. These are attached to lipids in the outer half of the outer membrane. The polysac- charides protect the outer membrane from detergent-like molecules found in our digestive tract.outer membrane The outer membrane also consists of matrix proteins that form pores small enough to exclude the detergent-like bile salts, but large enough to permit passage of small molecules and phospholipids.

RibosomesNuclearregionCell envelope

0.75µ

2µ Figure 1.1 The dimensions of a typical E. coli cell.

Periplasmicspace

LipopolysaccharideMatrixproteinLipoprotein

Inner membraneOuter membrane

Proteins Phospholipid

Peptidoglycan

or cell wall

PhospholipidsLipidsPeriplasmic protein

Figure 1.2 Schematic drawing of the structure of the envelope of an E. coli cell.

Rudiments of Prokaryotic Cell Structure 3

The major shape-determining factor of cells is the peptidoglycan layer or cell wall (Fig. 1.3). It lies beneath the outer membrane and is a single molecule containing many polysaccharide chains crosslinked by short peptides (Fig. 1.4). The outer membrane is attached to the pepti- doglycan layer by about 10 6 lipoprotein molecules. The protein end of each of these is covalently attached to the diaminopimelic acid in the peptidoglycan. The lipid end is buried in the outer membrane. The innermost of the three cell envelope layers is the inner or cytoplasmic membrane. It consists of many proteins embedded in a phospholipid bilayer. The space between the inner membrane and the outer membrane that contains the peptidoglycan layer is known as the periplasmic space. The cell wall and membranes contain about 20% of the cellular protein. After cell disruption by sonicating or grinding, most of this protein is still contained in fragments of wall and membrane and can be easily pelleted by low-speed centrifugation. The cytoplasm within the inner membrane is a protein solution at about 200 mg/ml, about 20 times more concentrated than the usual cell-free extracts used in the laboratory. Some proteins in the cytoplasm may constitute as little as 0.0001% by weight of the total cellular protein whereas others may be found at levels as high as 5%. In terms of concentrations, this is from 10 -8 M to 2  10 -4 M, and in a bacterial cell this is from 10 to 200,000 molecules per cell. The concentrations of many of the proteins vary with growth conditions, and a current re- search area is the study of the cellular mechanisms responsible for the variations. The majority of the more than 2,000 different types of proteins found within a bacterial cell are located in the cytoplasm. One question yet to GM M M GG M M M GG M M M G

30-60 units in E. coli

(a) (b)N-acetylglucosamine N-acetylmuramic acid GGG GM

CH OH2

OH OH HOH NH C CH 3H HO O NH C CH 3H O CHCH3 COOHO O H

CH OH2

H H HH O Figure 1.3 Structure of the cell wall showing the alternating N-acetylglu- cosamine N-acetylmuramic acid units. Each N-acetylmuramic acid possesses a peptide, but only a few are crosslinked in E. coli.

4 An Overview of Cell Structure and Function

be answered about these proteins is how they manage to exist in the cell without adhering to each other and forming aggregates since polypep- tides can easily bind to each other. Frequently when a bacterium is engineered for the over-synthesis of a foreign protein, amorphous precipitates called inclusion bodies form in the cytoplasm. Sometimes these result from delayed folding of the new protein, and occasionally they are the result of chance coprecipitation of a bacterial protein and the newly introduced protein. Similarly, one might also expect an occasional mutation to inactivate simultaneously two apparently unre- lated proteins by the coprecipitation of the mutated protein and some other protein into an inactive aggregate, and occasionally this does occur. The cell's DNA and about 10,000 ribosomes also reside in the cyto- plasm. The ribosomes consist of about one-third protein and two-thirds RNA and are roughly spherical with a diameter of about 200 Å. The DNA in the cytoplasm is not surrounded by a nuclear membrane as it is in the cells of higher organisms, but nonetheless it is usually confined to a portion of the cellular interior. In electron micrographs of cells, the highly compacted DNA can be seen as a stringy mass occupying about one tenth of the interior volume, and the ribosomes appear as granules uniformly scattered through the cytoplasm.

N-acetylmuramic acid

N-acetylmuramic acid

L-Ala D-Glu meso-DAP

D-AlaN-acetylmuramic acid L-Ala

D-Glu meso-DAP D-Ala

CH C C N C C N C CH CH C N C C N C C3 2

O NHAc O

OHOH O HCH3

CH 2 3 (CH ) O OH O OH C

O O H H O H C

2

H CH

3 HHH

L-Ala D-Glu -DAP D-Ala

meso Figure 1.4 Structure of the peptide crosslinking N-acetylmuramic acid units.

DAP is diaminopimelic acid.

Rudiments of Prokaryotic Cell Structure 5

Rudiments of Eukaryotic Cell Structure

A typical eukaryotic cell is 10  in diameter, making its volume about

1,000 times that of a bacterial cell. Like bacteria, eukaryotic cells contain

cell membranes, cytoplasmic proteins, DNA, and ribosomes, albeit of somewhat different structure from the corresponding prokaryotic ele- ments (Fig. 1.5). Eukaryotic cells, however, possess many structural features that even more clearly distinguish them from prokaryotic cells. Within the eukaryotic cytoplasm are a number of structural proteins that form networks. Microtubules, actin, intermediate filaments, and thin filaments form four main categories of fibers found within eu- karyotic cells. Fibers within the cell provide a rigid structural skeleton, participate in vesicle and chromosome movement, and participate in changing the cell shape so that it can move. They also bind the majority of the ribosomes. The DNA of eukaryotic cells does not freely mix with the cytoplasm, but is confined within a nuclear membrane. Normally only small pro- teins of molecular weight less than 20 to 40,000 can freely enter the nucleus through the nuclear membrane. Larger proteins and nuclear RNAs enter the nucleus through special nuclear pores. These are large structures that actively transport proteins or RNAs into or out of the nucleus. In each cell cycle, the nuclear membrane dissociates, and then later reaggregates. The DNA itself is tightly complexed with a class of proteins called histones, whose main function appears to be to help DNA retain a condensed state. When the cell divides, a special apparatus called the spindle, and consisting in part of microtubules, is necessary to pull the chromosomes into the daughter cells. Eukaryotic cells also contain specialized organelles such as mito- chondria, which perform oxidative phosphorylation to generate the cell's needed chemical energy. In many respects mitochondria resemble bacteria and, in fact, appear to have evolved from bacteria. They contain DNA, usually in the form of a circular chromosome like that of E. coli

Plasma membrane

Mitochondrion

Fibers

Nuclear membrane

Nucleus

Endoplasmicreticulum

Golgi apparatus

10µ

Figure 1.5 Schematic

drawing of a eukaryotic cell.

6 An Overview of Cell Structure and Function

and ribosomes that often more closely resemble those found in bacteria than the ribosomes located in the cytoplasm of the eukaryotic cell. Chloroplasts carry out photosynthesis in plant cells, and are another type of specialized organelle found within some eukaryotic cells. Like mitochondria, chloroplasts also contain DNA and ribosomes different from the analogous structures located elsewhere in the cell. Most eukaryotic cells also contain internal membranes. The nucleus is surrounded by two membranes. The endoplasmic reticulum is an- other membrane found in eukaryotic cells. It is contiguous with the outer nuclear membrane but extends throughout the cytoplasm in many types of cells and is involved with the synthesis and transport of membrane proteins. The Golgi apparatus is another structure contain- ing membranes. It is involved with modifying proteins for their trans- port to other cellular organelles or for export out of the cell.

Packing DNA into Cells

The DNA of the E. coli chromosome has a molecular weight of about 2  10 9 and thus is about 3  10 6 base pairs long. Since the distance between base pairs in DNA is about 3.4 Å, the length of the chromosome is 10 7 Å or 0.1 cm. This is very long compared to the 10 4 Å length of a bacterial cell, and the DNA must therefore wind back and forth many times within the cell. Observation by light microscopy of living bacterial cells and by electron microscopy of fixed and sectioned cells show, that often the DNA is confined to a portion of the interior of the cell with dimensions less than 0.25 . To gain some idea of the relevant dimensions, let us estimate the number of times that the DNA of a bacterium winds back and forth within a volume we shall approximate as a cube 0.25  on a side. This will provide an idea of the average distance separating the DNA duplexes and will also give some idea of the proportion of the DNA that lies on n 2+0.25 = 10 µ3 n 60 n .25µ ~~.25µn .25µ

Figure 1.6 Calculation of the num-

ber of times the E. coli chromosome winds back and forth if it is confined within a cube of edge 0.25 . Each of the n layers of DNA possesses n seg- ments of length 0.25 .

Packing DNA into Cells 7

the surface of the chromosomal mass. The number of times, N, that the DNA must wind back and forth will then be related to the length of the DNA and the volume in which it is contained. If we approximate the path of the DNA as consisting of n layers, each layer consisting of n segments of length 0.25  (Fig. 1.6), the total number of segments is n 2 .

Therefore, 2,500

n 2 Å = 10 7 Å and n = 60. The spacing between adjacent segments of the DNA is 2,500 Å/60 = 40 Å. The close spacing between DNA duplexes raises the interesting prob- lem of accessibility of the DNA. RNA polymerase has a diameter of about

100 Å and it may not fit between the duplexes. Therefore, quite possibly

only DNA on the surface of the nuclear mass is accessible for transcrip- tion. On the other hand, transcription of the lactose and arabinose operons can be induced within as short a time as two seconds after adding inducers. Consequently either the nuclear mass is in such rapid motion that any portion of the DNA finds its way to the surface at least once every several seconds, or the RNA polymerase molecules do penetrate to the interior of the nuclear mass and are able to begin transcription of any gene at any time. Possibly, start points of the arabinose and lactose operons always reside on the surface of the DNA. Compaction of the DNA generates even greater problems in eu- karyotic cells. Not only do they contain up to 1,000 times the amount of the DNA found in bacteria, but the presence of the histones on the DNA appears to hinder access of RNA polymerase and other enzymes to the DNA. In part, this problem is solved by regulatory proteins binding to regulatory regions before nucleosomes can form in these positions. Apparently, upon activation of a gene additional regulatory proteins bind, displacing more histones, and transcription begins. The DNA of many eukaryotic cells is specially contracted before cell division, and at this time it actually does become inaccessible to RNA polymerase. At all times, however, accessibility of the DNA to RNA polymerase must be hindered.

Moving Molecules into or out of Cells

Small-molecule metabolic intermediates must not leak out of cells into the medium. Therefore, an impermeable membrane surrounds the cytoplasm. To solve the problem of moving essential small molecules like sugars and ions into the cell, special transporter protein molecules are inserted into the membranes. These and auxiliary proteins in the cytoplasm must possess selectivity for the small-molecules being trans- ported. If the small-molecules are being concentrated in the cell and not just passively crossing the membrane, then the proteins must also couple the consumption of metabolic energy from the cell to the active transport. The amount of work consumed in transporting a molecule into a volume against a concentration gradient may be obtained by consider- ing the simple reaction where A o is the concentration of the molecule outside the cell and A i is the concentration inside the cell:

8 An Overview of Cell Structure and Function

A o   A i This reaction can be described by an equilibrium constant K eq  A i A o

The equilibrium constant K

eq , is related to the free energy of the reaction by the relation G  RTlnK eq where R is about 2 cal/deg . mole and T is 300° K (about 25° C), the temperature of many biological reactions. Suppose the energy of hy- drolysis of ATP to ADP is coupled to this reaction with a 50% efficiency. Then about 3,500 of the total of 7,000 calories available per mole of ATP hydrolyzed under physiological conditions will be available to the transport system. Consequently, the equilibrium constant will be K eq  e G RT e 3,500 600
 340. One interesting result of this consideration is that the work required to transport a molecule is independent of the absolute concentrations; it depends only on the ratio of the inside and outside concentrations. The transport systems of cells must recognize the type of molecule to be transported, since not all types are transported, and convey the molecule either to the inside or to the outside of the cell. Further, if the molecule is being concentrated within the cell, the system must tap an energy source for the process. Owing to the complexities of this process, it is not surprising that the details of active transport systems are far from being fully understood. Four basic types of small-molecule transport systems have been discovered. The first of these is facilitated diffusion. Here the molecule AoiA

Moving Molecules into or out of Cells 9

must get into or out of the cell on its own, but special doors are opened for it. That is, specific carriers exist that bind to the molecule and shuttle it through the membrane. Glycerol enters most types of bacteria by this mechanism. Once within the cell the glycerol is phosphorylated and cannot diffuse back out through the membrane, nor can it exit by using the glycerol carrier protein that carried the glycerol into the cell. A second method of concentrating molecules within cells is similar to the facilitated diffusion and phosphorylation of glycerol. The phos- photransferase system actively rather than passively carries a number of types of sugars across the cell membrane and, in the process, phos- phorylates them (Fig. 1.7). The actual energy for the transport comes from phosphoenolpyruvate. The phosphate group and part of the chemi- cal energy contained in the phosphoenolpyruvate is transferred down a series of proteins, two of which are used by all the sugars transported by this system and two of which are specific for the particular sugar being transported. The final protein is located in the membrane and is directly responsible for the transport and phosphorylation of the trans- ported sugar. Protons are expelled from E. coli during the flow of reducing power from NADH to oxygen. The resulting concentration difference in H + ions between the interior and exterior of the cell generates a proton motive force or membrane potential that can then be coupled to ATP synthesis or to the transport of molecules across the membrane. Active transport systems using this energy source are called chemiosmotic systems. In the process of permitting a proton to flow back into the cell, another small molecule can be carried into the cell, which is called symport, or carried out of the cell, which is called antiport (Fig. 1.8). PEP

Pyruvate

HPr

Enzyme

Enzyme IEnzyme I

Phosphoenzyme I

Phospho-HPrIII-X

Phosphoenzyme

III-X

Enzyme

III-X

Phosphosugar-XCytoplasm

Enzyme

II-X

Phosphoenzyme

II-X

Enzyme

II-X

Sugar-X

Cytoplasmic membrane

HPr Figure 1.7 The cascade of reactions associated with the phosphotransferase sugar uptake system of E. coli.

10 An Overview of Cell Structure and Function

In many eukaryotic cells, a membrane potential is generated by the sodium-potassium pump. From the energy of hydrolysis of one ATP molecule, 3 Na + ions are transported outside the cell and 2 K + ions are transported inside. The resulting gradient in sodium ions can then be coupled to the transport of other molecules or used to transmit signals along a membrane. Study of all transport systems has been difficult because of the necessity of working with membranes, but the chemiosmotic system has been particularly hard due to the difficulty of manipulating membrane potentials. Fortunately the existence of bacterial mutants blocked at H + H + H + H + H + H + H + H + H + H +H + H + H H

HADP + Pi

ATP H comes in while goes out.and come in together.Membrane

Antiport Symport

H H

Figure 1.8 Coupling the excess of H

+ ions outside a cell to the transport of a specific molecule into the cell, symport, or out of the cell, antiport, by specific proteins that couple the transport of a proton into the cell with the transport of another molecule. The ATPase generates ATP from ADP with the energy derived from permitting protons to flow back into the cell.

2e-2e-

Cytoplasmic membrane

NADH H+NAD 2H+1/2 O + 2H+

2H O22H

+2H+Outside

Inside

+

Moving Molecules into or out of Cells 11

various steps of the transport process has permitted partial dissection of the system. We are, however, very far from completely understanding the actual mechanisms involved in chemiosmotic systems. The binding protein systems represent another type of transport through membranes. These systems utilize proteins located in the periplasmic space that specifically bind sugars, amino acids, and ions. Apparently, these periplasmic binding proteins transfer their substrates to specific carrier molecules located in the cell membrane. The energy source for these systems is ATP or a closely related metabolite. Transporting large molecules through the cell wall and membranes poses additional problems. Eukaryotic cells can move larger molecules through the membrane by exocytosis and endocytosis processes in which the membrane encompasses the molecule or molecules. In the case of endocytosis, the molecule can enter the cell, but it is still separated from the cytoplasm by the membrane. This membrane must be removed in order for the membrane-enclosed packet of material to be released into the cytoplasm. By an analogous process, exocytosis releases membrane-enclosed packets to the cell exterior. Releasing phage from bacteria also poses difficult problems. Some types of filamentous phage slip through the membrane like a snake. They are encapsidated as they exit the membrane by phage proteins located in the membrane. Other types of phage must digest the cell wall to make holes large enough to exit. These phage lyse their hosts in the process of being released. An illuminating example of endocytosis is the uptake of low density lipoprotein, a 200 Å diameter protein complex that carries about 1,500 molecules of cholesterol into cells. Pits coated with a receptor of the low density lipoprotein form in the membrane. The shape of these pits is guided by triskelions, an interesting structural protein consisting of three molecules of clathrin. After receptors have been in a pit for about

Coated vesicle

Clathrin

cageCoated pitReceptors

Plasma membrane

Figure 1.9 Endocytosis of receptor-coated pits to form coated vesicles and the recycling of receptor that inserts at random into the plasma membrane and then clusters in pits.

12 An Overview of Cell Structure and Function

ten minutes, the pit pinches off and diffuses through the cytoplasm (Fig.

1.9). Upon reaching the lysosome, the clatherin cage of triskelions is

disassembled, cholesterol is released, and the receptors recycle.

Diffusion within the Small Volume of a Cell

Within several minutes of adding a specific inducer to bacteria or eukaryotic cells, newly synthesized active enzymes can be detected. These are the result of the synthesis of the appropriate messenger RNA, its translation into protein, and the folding of the protein to an active conformation. Quite obviously, processes are happening very rapidly within a cell for this entire sequence to be completed in several minutes. We will see that our image of synthetic processes in the cellular interior should be that of an assembly line running hundreds of times faster than normal, and our image for the random motion of molecules from one point to another can be that of a washing machine similarly running very rapidly. The random motion of molecules within cells can be estimated from basic physical chemical principles. We will develop such an analysis since similar reasoning often arises in the design or analysis of experi- ments in molecular biology. The mean squared distance R 2 that a molecule with diffusion constant D will diffuse in time t is R 2  6Dt (Fig.

1.10). The diffusion constants of many molecules have been measured

and are available in tables. For our purposes, we can estimate a value for a diffusion constant. The diffusion constant is D  KT f , where K is the Boltzmann constant, 1.38  10 -16 ergs/degree, T is temperature in degrees Kelvin, and f is the frictional force. For spherical bodies, f  6r , where r is the radius in centimeters and  is the viscosity of the medium in units of poise.

The viscosity of water is 10

-2 poise. Although the macroviscosity of the cell's interior could be much greater, as suggested by the extremely high viscosity of gently lysed cells, the viscosity of the cell's interior with z x y R

Figure 1.10 Random motion of

a particle in three dimensions be- ginning at the origin and the definition of the mean squared distance R 2 .

Diffusion within the Small Volume of a Cell 13

respect to motion of molecules the size of proteins or smaller is more likely to be similar to that of water. This is reasonable, for small molecules can go around obstacles such as long strands of DNA, but large molecules would have to displace a huge tangle of DNA strands. A demonstration of this effect is the finding that small molecules such as amino acids readily diffuse through the agar used for growing bacterial colonies, but objects as large as viruses are immobile in the agar, yet diffuse normally in solution.

Since D

 KT

6r, then D = 4.4  10

-7 for a large spherical protein of radius 50 Å diffusing in water, and the diffusion constant for such a protein within a cell is not greatly different. Therefore R 2  6  4.4  10 7 t, and the average time required for such protein molecules to diffuse the length of a 1  bacterial cell is 1/250 second and to diffuse the length of a 20  eukaryotic cell is about 2 seconds. Analogous reasoning with respect to rotation shows that a protein rotates about 1/8 radian (about 7°) in the time it diffuses a distance equal to its radius.

Exponentially Growing Populations

Reproducibility from one day to the next and between different labora- tories is necessary before meaningful measurements can be made on growing cells. Populations of cells that are not overcrowded or limited by oxygen, nutrients, or ions grow freely and can be easily reproduced. Such freely growing populations are almost universally used in molecu- lar biology, and several of their properties are important. The rate of increase in the number of cells in a freely growing population is proportional to the number of cells present, that is, dN dt  N, or N t  N 0e t . In these expressions  is termed the exponential growth rate of the cells. The following properties of the exponential function are frequently useful when manipulating data or expressions involving growth of cells. e alnx  x a d dx e ax  ae ax e x   x n n ! n  0  Quantities growing with the population increase as e t.

Throughout

this book we will use  as the exponential growth rate. The time required for cells to double in number, T d , is easier to measure experimentally as well as to think about than the exponential growth rate. Therefore we often need to interconvert the two rates T d and . Note that the number of cells or some quantity related to the number of cells in freely growing

14 An Overview of Cell Structure and Function

populations can be written as Q(t) = 2 t/Td , and since 2 = e ln2 , Q(t) can also be written as Q(t) = e (ln2/

Td)t, thereby showing that the relation

between T d and  is  = ln2/T d .

Composition Change in Growing Cells

In many experiments it is necessary to consider the time course of the induction of an enzyme or other cellular component in a population of growing cells. To visualize this, suppose that synthesis of an enzyme is initiated at some time in all the cells in the population and thereafter the synthesis rate per cell remains constant. What will the enzyme level per cell be at later times?

The Relationship between Cell Doublings, Enzyme

Doublings, and Induction Kinetics

Time t=0 t=T

d t=2T d t=3T d

Cell Mass 1 2 4 8

Enzyme present if synthesis began long ago A 2A 4A 8A Enzyme synthesized during one doubling time A 2A 4A Enzyme present if synthesis begins at t=0 0 A 3A 7A One way to handle this problem is to consider a closely related problem we can readily solve. Suppose that synthesis of the enzyme had begun many generations earlier and thereafter the synthesis rate per cell had remained constant. Since the synthesis of the enzyme had been initiated many cell doublings earlier, by the time of our consideration, the cells are in a steady state and the relative enzyme level per cell remains constant. As the cell mass doubles from 1 to 2 to 4, and so on, the amount of the enzyme, A, also doubles, from A to 2A to 4A, and so on. The differences in the amount of the enzyme at the different times give the amounts that were synthesized in each doubling time. Now consider the situation if the same number of cells begins with no enzyme but instead begins synthesis at the same rate per cell as the population that had been induced at a much earlier time (see the last row in the table). At the beginning, no enzyme is present, but during the first doubling time, an amount A of the enzyme can be synthesized by the cells. In the next doubling time, the table shows that the cells can synthesize an amount 2A of the enzyme, so that after two doubling times the total amount of enzyme present is 3A. After another doubling time the amount of enzyme present is 7A. Thus at successive doublings after induction the enzyme level is 1 2, 3 4, 7

8,... of the final asymptotic value.

Age Distribution in Populations of Growing Cells

The cells in a population of freely growing cells are not all alike. A newly divided cell grows, doubles in volume, and divides into two daughter

Composition Change in Growing Cells 15

cells. Consequently, freely growing populations contain twice as many cells that have just divided as cells about to divide. The distribution of cell ages present in growing populations is an important consideration in a number of molecular biology experiments, one of which is men- tioned in Chapter 3. Therefore we will derive the distribution of ages present in such populations. Consider an idealized case where cells grow until they reach the age of 1, at which time they divide. In reality most cells do not divide at exactly this age, but the ages at which cell division occurs cluster around a peak. To derive the age distribution, let N(a,t)da be the number of cells with age between a and a + da at time t. For convenience, we omit writing the da. Since the number of cells of age a at time t must be the same as the number of zero-age cells at time t-a, N(a,t) = N(0,t -a). Since the numbers of cells at any age are growing exponentially, N(0,t) = N(0,0)e t, and N(a,t) = N(0,t-a) = N(0,t)e -a . Therefore the probability that a cell is of age a, p(a), is p(0)e -a = p(0)2 -a/Td (Fig. 1.11).

Problems

1.1. Propose an explanation for the following facts known about E.

coli: appreciable volume exists between the inner membrane and the peptidoglycan layer; the inner membrane is too weak to withstand the osmotic pressure of the cytoplasm and must be supported by a strong, rigid structure; and no spacers have been discovered that could hold the inner membrane away from the peptidoglycan layer.

1.2. If the E. coli interior were water at pH 7, how many H

+ ions would exist within the cell at any instant?

1.3. If a population of cells growing exponentially with a doubling

time T d were contaminated at one part in 10 7 with cells whose doubling time is 0.95 T d , how many doublings will be required until 50% of the cells are contaminants? 0p(a) 1 Age

Figure 1.11 Age distribution in an

exponentially growing population in which all cells divide when they reach age 1. Note that the popula- tion contains twice as many zero-age cells as unit-age cells.

16 An Overview of Cell Structure and Function

1.4. If an enzyme is induced and its synthesis per cell is constant,

show that there is a final upper-bound less than 100% of cellular protein that this enzyme can constitute. When the enzyme has reached this level, what is the relation between the rate of synthesis of the enzyme and the rate of dilution of the enzyme caused by increase of cellular volume due to growth?

1.5. In a culture of cells in balanced exponential growth, an enzyme

was induced at time t = 0. Before induction the enzyme was not present, and at times very long after induction it constituted 1% of cell protein. What is the fraction of cellular protein constituted by this protein at any time t > 0 in terms of the cell doubling time? Ignore the 1 min or so lag following induction until the enzyme begins to appear. 1.6. In a culture of cells in balanced exponential growth, an enzyme was fully induced at some very early time, and the level of enzyme ultimately reached 1% of total protein. At time t = 0 the synthesis of enzyme was repressed. What fraction of cellular protein is constituted by the enzyme for t > 0 (a) if the repressed rate of synthesis is 0 and (b) if the repressed rate of synthesis is 0.01 of the fully induced rate?

1.7. If the concentration of a typical amino acid in a bacterium is 10

-3 M, estimate how long this quantity, without replenishment, could support protein synthesis at the rate that yields 1  10 -13 g of newly synthesized protein with a cell doubling time of 30 min.

1.8. If a typical protein can diffuse from one end to the other of a cell

in 1/250 sec when it encounters viscosity the same as that of water, how long is required if the viscosity is 100 times greater? 1.9. A protein of molecular weight 30,000 daltons is in solution of

200 mg/ml. What is the average distance separating the centers of the

molecules? If protein has a density of 1.3, what fraction of the volume of such a solution actually is water?

1.10. How can the existence of the Na

+ -K + pump in eukaryotic cells be demonstrated?

1.11. How can valinomycin be used to create a temporary membrane

potential in cells or membrane vesicles?

1.12. Suppose the synthesis of some cellular component requires

synthesis of a series of precursors P 1 , P 2 , P n proceeding through a series of pools S i . P 1 P 2 P 3  P n S 1 S 2 S 3  S n

Suppose the withdrawal of a precursor molecule P

i from pool S i , and its maturation to S i+1 is random. Suppose that at t = 0 all subsequently synthesized precursors P 1 are radioactively labeled at constant specific activity. Show that at the beginning, the radioactive label increases proportional to t n in pool S n .

1.13. Consider cells growing in minimal medium. Suppose a radio-

active amino acid is added and the kinetics of radioactivity incorpora-

Problems 17

tion into protein are measured for the first minute. Assume that upon addition of the amino acid, the cell completely stops its own synthesis of the amino acid and that there is no leakage of the amino acid out of the cell. For about the first 15 sec, the incorporation of radioactive amino acid into protein increases as t 2 and thereafter as t. Show how this delayed entry of radioactive amino acids into protein results from the pool of free nonradioactive amino acid in the cells at the time the radioactive amino acid was added. Continue with the analysis and show how to calculate the concentration of this internal pool. Use data of Fig.

2 in J. Mol. Bio. 27, 41 (1967) to calculate the molarity of free proline

in E. coli B/r.

1.14. Consider a more realistic case for cell division than was consid-

ered in the text. Suppose that cells do not divide precisely when they reach age 1 but that they have a probability given by the function f(a) of dividing when they are of age a. What is the probability that a cell is of age a in this case?

References

Recommended Readings

Role of an Electrical Potential in the Coupling of Metabolic Energy to Active Transport by Membrane Vesicles of Escherichia coli, H. Hirata, K. Altendorf, F. Harold, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 70, 1804-1808 (1973). Coated Pits, Coated Vesicles, and Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis, J. Goldstein, R. Anderson, M. Brown, Nature 279, 679-685 (1979). Osmotic Regulation and the Biosynthesis of Membrane-Derived Oligosac- charides in Escherichia coli, E. Kennedy, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 79,

1092-1095 (1982).

Cell Structure

Sugar Transport, I. Isolation of A Phosphotransferase System from E. coli, W. Kundig, S. Roseman, J. Biol. Chem. 246, 1393-1406 (1971). Localization of Transcribing Genes in the Bacterial Cell by Means of High Resolution Autoradiography, A. Ryter, A. Chang, J. Mol. Biol. 98,

797-810 (1975).

The Relationship between the Electrochemical Proton Gradient and Ac- tive Transport in E. coli Membrane Vesicles, S. Ramos, H. Kaback.

Biochem. 16, 854-859 (1977).

Escherichia coli Intracellular pH, Membrane Potential, and Cell Growth, D. Zilberstein, V. Agmon, S. Schuldiner, E. Padan, J. Bact. 158, 246-252 (1984). Ion Selectivity of Gram-negative Bacterial Porins, R. Benz, A. Schmid, R.

Hancock, J. Bact. 162, 722-727 (1985).

Measurement of Proton Motive Force in Rhizobium meliloti with Es- cherichia coli lacY Gene Product, J. Gober, E. Kashket, J. Bact. 164,

929-931 (1985).

Internalization-defective LDL Receptors Produced by Genes with Non- sense and Frameshift Mutations That Truncate the Cytoplasmic Do-

18 An Overview of Cell Structure and Function

main, M. Lerman, J. Goldstein, M. Brown, D. Russell, W. Schneider,

Cell 41, 735-743 (1985).

Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium, Cellular and Molecular Biology, eds. F. Neidhardt, J. Ingraham, K. Low, B. Magasanik, M. Schaechter, H. Umbarger, Am. Society for Microbiology (1987). Introduction of Proteins into Living Bacterial Cells: Distribution of La- beled HU Protein in Escherichia coli, V. Shellman, D. Pettijohn, J. Bact.

173, 3047-3059 (1991).

Characterization of the Cytoplasm of Escherichia coli as a Function of External Osmolarity, S. Cayley, B. Lewis, H. Guttman, M. Record, Jr.,

J. Mol. Biol. 222, 281-300 (1991).

Estimation of Macromolecule Concentrations and Excluded Volume Ef- fects for the Cytoplasm of Escherichia coli, S. Zimmerman, S. Trach, J.

Mol. Biol. 222, 599-620 (1991).

Inside a Living Cell, D. Goodsell, Trends in Biological Sciences, 16,

203-206 (1991).

References 19

Nucleic Acid and

Chromosome Structure

2 Thus far we have considered the structure of cells and a few facts about their functioning. In the next few chapters we will be concerned with the structure, properties, and biological synthesis of the molecules that have been particularly important in molecular biology - DNA, RNA, and protein. In this chapter we consider DNA and RNA. The structures of these two molecules make them well suited for their major biological roles of storing and transmitting information. This information is fundamental to the growth and survival of cells and organisms because it specifies the structure of the molecules that make up a cell. Information can be stored by any object that can possess more than one distinguishable state. For example, we could let a stick six inches long represent one message and a stick seven inches long represent another message. Then we could send a message specifying one of the two alternatives merely by sending a stick of the appropriate length. If we could measure the length of the stick to one part in ten thousand, we could send a message specifying one of ten thousand different alternatives with just one stick. Information merely limits the alterna- tives. We will see that the structure of DNA is particularly well suited for the storage of information. Information is stored in the linear DNA molecule by the particular sequence of four different elements along its length. Furthermore, the structure of the molecule or molecules - two are usually used - is sufficiently regular that enzymes can copy, repair, and read out the stored information independent of its content. The duplicate